You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
by NuclearNik
Summary: Rose Granger-Weasley is a big fan of the Hallowe'en feast at Hogwarts. She wouldn't miss it for anything. Except maybe the beautiful best mate she secretly has a crush on. *Written for WWW's Pumpkin & Ginger Fest*


A/N: I have taken liberties with the timeline for this story. Scorpius, Rose, and Albus are all in Year 6. Teddy Lupin is just a year ahead of them in Year 7. The other cousins and siblings are their canon age.

Many thanks to FirewhiskySoul for her fantastic beta work on this.

* * *

"Mum, have you seen my uniform tie?" It was the morning of September First, and Rose Granger-Weasley was frantically throwing things into her school trunk.

"I folded it and put it in your drawer last night," her mother shouted from downstairs. "You've got to hurry, love. We're going to be late, and you'll miss the train!" Rose's last-minute ways were a constant source of irritation for her mother, who liked to have things organized down to the minute. Rose preferred to fly by the seat of her pants, so to speak.

Dashing to the bookcase in the hallway, Rose retrieved _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 _and _Flesh-Eating Trees of the World_, tossed them in the trunk atop her school robes and the stuffed rabbit her father had given her that she refused to part with, then closed the trunk and ran down the stairs. The trunk clunked against each step, and Rose wished she could just levitate it. Waiting until she was seventeen to be able to truly use magic—something that was now second nature to her—was supremely difficult.

She raced downstairs to where her mum and siblings were waiting for her. Hugo was sitting on his trunk munching on a muffin, and baby Nora was in her highchair. Rose's mother handed her a muffin and a cup of pumpkin juice. "You can eat on the way. Time to go!"

Picking up her youngest child from the highchair and balancing her on one hip, her mother reached for Rose and Hugo and spun on the spot, taking them to the Apparition point nearest to King's Cross.

It was a mile or so walk to the station from where they landed. There were new rules put in place this year that forbade Apparition within a certain distance of Muggle structures, but the weather was nice, and Rose enjoyed the walk.

Rose bit into her muffin—still warm—and happily sighed.

_Mmm, blueberry. _

She was thankful that her mum was always prepared because otherwise, Rose would still be at home frantically running around the house with an empty stomach and half-filled trunk.

When Hugo started to complain about how heavy his trunk was, their mum discreetly cast featherweight charms on all of the luggage. Little Nora clapped her chubby hands together when Hugo, now unburdened, handed her a bit of his muffin.

"Now that we're on our way, why don't you two tell me what you're most looking forward to learning this year?" This was a question Mum asked every year on their way to the station. They couldn't just say, "Everything," because then she'd ask them to elaborate, or start listing her own favourite topics from when she was in school, and then the conversation would never end.

Hugo piped up and said, "More advanced shield charms!" Hugo loved to duel, and he had gotten in trouble on more than one occasion for unauthorized duelling on school grounds.

This year, Rose wasn't quite sure what her answer would be. She did love learning, but the things that most drew her to Hogwarts were the people and the environment of magic. She loved her friends, and she loved the wizarding world. Sometimes, studying came in second to these things for Rose.

She thought back to the winter holidays last year when her older cousin had told her what they had learned during the first semester of their sixth-year. She tried to pull something from that conversation. Rose hadn't even read this year's syllabus yet, but she certainly couldn't tell her mother that.

"Uh, I'm very excited to finally learn about nonverbal spells!"

"Oh, yes, that's a wonderful subject and so useful. I remember an essay I wrote on the topic, I had such fun researching for it and—"

Rose's mother went on and on, telling them all about some boring essay she'd written. Rose kept tuned in just enough to be able to nod her head or hum in agreement at the appropriate times. In lieu of fully listening, she zoned out, looking at the sights of the countryside melting into city streets as they got closer to King's Cross.

Dad was away for work, on some mission he couldn't talk about, and Rose saw how it affected her mother. She missed her husband, and they all wished he could be here to wave Rose and Hugo off, but no matter. Mum was here, and baby Nora, and that was good enough for Rose.

Rose and Hugo steered their trolleys toward Platforms nine and ten with Mum and Nora following behind. The four of them walked through the barrier and entered Platform 9 ¾ to find the Hogwarts Express revved up and ready to go.

It was time to say goodbye. As much as Rose adored Hogwarts, she was very close to her family and would miss hearing her mother's voice in the morning.

Turning towards her mother, Rose received a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead.

Rose leaned in to kiss Nora's soft, chunky cheek. "Bye-bye, Nor. Before you know it, you'll be on the train headed to Hogwarts. I'll miss you." She got an incoherent babble in return and smiled.

Rose and Hugo boarded the train, and before they knew it, they'd arrived in Hogsmeade. They met up with their cousins and made their way to the carriages.

The excitement in the air was palpable, and Rose was delighted to be back at Hogwarts.

* * *

"Welcome to Herbology Five! This term we will be digging deeper," Professor Longbottom paused there, grinning and raising an eyebrow as if to say _get it? _"into the fundamentals of botany and why a witch or wizard needs to have a strong grasp on them."

The term had barely started, and that meant that most students were attentive and eager to participate. A few months from now, when they were deep into their increased workload with N.E.W.T level classes, that shiny new excitement would become a bit dull.

The professor continued. "I hope to spark a love for living things in each of you. When I was in school, Herbology was a wonderful escape for me. A place where I found my groove. All I ask is for you to keep an open mind—plants may not seem like much, but they play an important role in many other areas of magic."

Rose enjoyed Herbology. She loved the feeling of dirt running through her fingers, and the sense of accomplishment she got when something she planted grew successfully.

"Anyway, let's begin! For this project, you can choose your own partners. Please keep in mind that this will not be the case for future assignments. It's important to learn how to work with others!"

As Rose tried to keep her focus, she caught Scorpius Malfoy grinning at her in her peripheral vision. If Albus wasn't present in a class when they had to partner up, Scorpius would always go with her, making the decision of who to partner with easy for Rose.

"To start, we'll be getting our hands a little dirty. We will be looking at plants native to the United Kingdom. Please gather your supplies—trowel, shovel, and dragonhide gloves—and follow me down the path to Hogsmeade. We'll be stopping part of the way there to observe plants growing along the road."

Sighing, Rose gathered her supplies. She did enjoy this class, but she was exhausted from a long night spent catching up on the first week's homework that she'd put off in favour of catching up with friends, and she'd hoped they'd just stand at the greenhouse tables so she had something to lean on.

_One foot in front of the other, Rose._

As she grabbed her tools, a sharp elbow poked her in the side. "Merlin, Scorp. Use your words."

"It's far more fun to annoy you, though."

"You're a chronic, everlasting pain in my arse."

"True." He sang the word. "You're never getting rid of me."

"Lucky me."

"Aren't you, though? I am a delight to be around."

"Shut up and start walking, Malfoy."

As they followed the rest of the students and their professor down the path, Rose allowed herself to think about how fit Scorp looked today. They'd been friends since third year, and besides her cousins, Scorpius was Rose's closest friend. She often got into trouble with him and Albus on some harebrained scheme they came up with.

She was incredibly thankful for her friendship with Scorp, and she was terrified to ruin it by bringing her stupid feelings into play.

In the last year, as they'd both grown older, maturing into young adults, Rose had found herself thinking about Scorpius in terms beyond those of a best friend.

He had a quick wit, a snarky tongue that made her laugh, unending loyalty, and to top it all off, he was gorgeous.

But to stuff up her bond with her dearest friend would devastate her.

So she kept those feelings hidden away inside. Rose had dated on and off, but never anything serious. Hell, Scorpius would tell her of his adventures and exploits with willing witches all around the school. She knew he wasn't waiting around secretly pining after her.

As they walked together, shoulder to shoulder and chatting about some new broom Nimbus was coming out with, she decided that spending time with him in any aspect kept her content.

She'd continue to keep her unfortunate crush to herself and just enjoy this year.

* * *

As she walked the shelves of the library, Rose trailed her fingers over the spine of each book, searching for _Defensive Magical Theory _by Wilbert Slinkhard. She wanted to get ahead on an essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts that was due in a few weeks. Most of the time, she cared more about her friends and Quidditch than homework, but DADA was Rose's absolute favourite class. She was good at it, and she loved the physicality of it. Defending yourself against dark magic often involved the whole body, not just your wand hand.

_Ah!_

She'd finally found the right book. Sliding it off the shelf, Rose walked to the far corner of the library where her favourite chair resided. Just as she'd settled in, she heard a strange grunting coming from the other side of the shelf nearest to her chair.

Thinking it was someone carrying heavy books, she ignored it.

But then she heard a distinctly feminine whimper.

_Ew._

Rose didn't care what other people did to get their rocks off—they were in a castle full of hormonal teens, after all—and she'd fooled around a bit herself, but in the library?

There was enough of her mother in Rose to make her feel that defiling such a space was downright sacrilegious.

Determined to break up whatever illicit activities were happening, Rose stood, setting her book on the small table beside her chair and marching around the end of the shelf.

She rolled her eyes when she saw the couple canoodling against the shelves of the _Magic for Families _section. Quite ironic to be shagging just mere inches from books on contraception spells.

A flash of blue hair caught her eye immediately.

_Oh, Merlin._

Teddy Lupin was engaged in heavy petting and some definite hickey-leaving with a Hufflepuff girl, but thank Morgana, there was no full-on shagging.

Clearing her throat loudly, Rose almost laughed when Teddy's back stiffened as he curled his body over the girl he had pressed against the bookshelves in a noble attempt to protect her modesty.

It was cute. Teddy may be wild as the wind, but he was a good bloke who wouldn't hurt a fly. Honestly, Rose was pretty sure that's how he made Head Boy, considering his proclivity for breaking the rules.

Shirts were re-buttoned and ties were straightened, and finally, Teddy and his snogging partner were back in presentable condition. Teddy put his hands on the shoulders of the girl—someone Rose didn't recognize—and spoke quietly. The girl nodded, looking more at ease. Teddy punctuated his words with a brilliant grin in her direction as she turned and scurried out of the library.

When her de facto cousin turned to face her, his nose had been replaced by an elephant trunk. Rose couldn't help but giggle, her ire melting into mirth.

"The day will come when you can't charm yourself out of a pickle, Ted."

"Ah but it's much too fun to live life on the edge, Rosie."

As his face morphed back into Teddy's, he pressed a quick kiss to Rose's cheek and threw a wink in her direction before swaggering out of the library.

With a shake of her head, Rose headed back to her chosen chair to read. She was a few chapters in when she heard a whisper coming from the other side of the shelf closest to her.

"Psst! Rosie, you there?"

_Ugh._

Couldn't she be left to read in peace?

With a roll of her eyes, Rose stood and pulled out a thick hardcover to reveal the face of Scorpius Malfoy peering at her between the shelves.

"What do you want, Scorp? I'm studying."

"Go flying with me this weekend?" Rose knew her answer right away—of course, she'd go. Scorpius Malfoy and flying were two of her favourite things.

However, another one of her favourite pastimes was watching Scorpius squirm, so instead of agreeing right away, she twisted her mouth to the side and pretended to ponder it. "Hmm, I don't know. I might be busy."

Scorpius snorted. "Yeah, right. Like you'd miss a chance to fly. Also, your only friends are your cousins and me, so what could you possibly be busy doing?"

"Rude! True, but rude."

"C'mon, Rose. Please?"

"Okay, fine. But only if you ask nicely. You need to work on your manners, Scorp."

"My dearest Rose, would you do me the honour of accompanying me on a journey to the skies this Friday after school?"

A smirk twisted Rose's lips. "Much better!"

* * *

"Ha!" Rose shouted with glee as she crossed onto the Quidditch Pitch, a good few seconds ahead of Scorpius.

"Merlin, Rosie. When did you get so fast?"

"Some of us are just gifted with natural talent, Scorpius. Don't be jealous, it's unbecoming."

He made a rather rude gesture in her direction, making her laugh as they walked to the broom shed. When they opened the door, the scent of polish and wood hit her, smells that always comforted her.

She adored flying. Her father had given her a deep love for Quidditch, and she was proud that she'd made the team a few years ago. Aunt Ginny inspired her—Ginny was a tough-as-nails witch, capable of taking whatever anyone dished out and giving it back just as hard. Her successful career is what motivated Rose to consider Professional Quidditch as an option for her own future.

Scorpius had slipped into the shed ahead of her, and she heard him yell, "Think fast!" right before her broom came hurtling through the air towards her. She caught it just before it would have smacked into her.

"Bloody hell, Scorp!"

"Sorry," he said, with that mischievous and charming little smile on his face that guaranteed Rose would forget why she was mad at him.

He had already mounted his broom and was waiting rather impatiently for Rose to do the same.

When she was ready, they took off, soaring straight up into the sky at first. They gained air quickly, and when they came to a stop, just floating, the pitch looked like something from a miniature train set—tiny and insignificant.

It was the way of things when you were up this high. It reminded you that any problem lost its power the further away you got from it.

Sometimes moving up and moving on were the same thing.

"Let's go, Rosie!"

Taking off again, Rose launched herself in the direction Scorp had flown, heading above the Forbidden Forest, swooping in between the very tippy-tops of the trees.

The colours of the foliage were stunning. Scotland had been given an exceptionally long summer this year, and it made for vivid, deep shades on the leaves.

Catching a good tailwind, Rose caught up to Scorpius, flying side-by-side before swooping ahead, pumping her fist in the air at Scorpius' pathetic whine of defeat.

They cut sharply to the left, and suddenly they were soaring above the Black Lake. The reflection of the sun on the mirror-like surface was brilliant from this height.

On they went, flying all over the grounds, racing one another, smiling and laughing.

Time had become a fuzzy convention as they flew around. Rose had no idea how much time had passed since they'd been up here. It felt like hours, yet mere minutes at the same time.

It was getting close to twilight, reminding Rose that the feast would be happening soon.

She shouted the reminder to Scorp and took off, flying as fast as she could towards the ground, stomach flipping and heart beating in her ears as she pulled up just before becoming a splat on the ground.

That flight had been just what she needed. She loved Hogwarts, she really did, but sometimes the confines of wood and stone made her feel suffocated. Flying set her heart and her body free again, recalibrating her being.

It was difficult to stifle her laugh when Scorpius came in just a little too hot, stumbling when he landed.

"Oh, hush, you. Like you've never fumbled."

Sticking her nose in the air, Rose grinned and said, "Nope. I haven't. I'm perfect. How do you keep forgetting that?"

There was a smile on his face as he shook his head at her, wordlessly taking her broom to hang it up with his in the shed.

"Want to race again?" Rose asked.

"What? No! How do you still have energy after all that? I'm pretty sure you're inhuman, Rosie. No one is that peppy all the time."

They exchanged elbow jabs and shoulder shoves the whole walk back to the castle, parting ways to stop at their respective commons rooms to freshen up before the feast.

* * *

The corridors were mostly empty as Rose ran through them on her way to the Great Hall.

The Hallowe'en Feast each year was her absolute favourite, and she was irritated that she was nearly late because she'd taken too long showering the sweat off after all that flying.

When she reached the open doors to the hall, she slowed her pace, not wanting to look like a maniac frantically running around.

Looking up at the ceiling as she walked in, Rose smiled. Charmed paper bats were flying above the tables, swooping around, and candles floated serenely in the air. Massive pumpkins—courtesy of Hagrid—lined one wall.

There was a festive feeling in the air. Students talked happily among themselves as the castle ghosts flew around their heads.

Spotting her friends at a table on the other side of the hall, Rose headed over, snatching James' goblet of pumpkin juice and chugging it down before plonking herself on the bench next to Lily. Hugo was sitting just a bit farther away, talking to his mates.

"Rose!" James dragged the "s" out and rolled his eyes.

She simply grinned at him, and he grumbled about pesky cousins as he went to refill his cup.

Scorpius was seated across from her. She was surrounded by friends and family, and she felt a deep sense of gratefulness for the life she had. For the sacrifices of generations before her that led to the safer, happier world she now lived in.

They talked and bantered and ate, celebrating Samhain in the best way.

There was one thing slightly out of place, though.

Every couple minutes, Rose would flick her gaze across the table and catch Scorpius staring at her. When she licked a bit of gravy off her spoon, he looked away and shifted in his seat.

_Interesting._

Hallowe'en was not the season of wishes granted, but was her deepest wish somehow starting to come true? Was Scorpius, dare she say, attracted to her?

Her first thought was that someone slipped him a potion. It was hard to believe that he'd suddenly be into her entirely on his own.

It was just about time for dessert when Scorpius caught her eye, jerking his chin in the direction of the door. Since he was clearly attempting to be incognito, Rose excused herself to the loo and walked out into the hallway.

A few minutes passed before she spotted a blond head walking in her direction.

"What's up, Scorp? It better be good. You know how dedicated I am to dessert."

He took her elbow, pulling her into a little alcove hidden in shadow.

"You look pretty tonight, Rosie."

"I usually do," she said with a cheeky wink. She was a little unsure where this conversation was going, and bravado was her only recourse.

He avoided her eyes, looking at his feet, the ceiling, anywhere but her face. "Well, I, uh…" This was not like him. The Scorpius she knew was deadly confident and a smooth-talker. What was going on here?

"What are you on about, Scorp? Have you eaten anything dodgy lately? You're acting like someone slipped you a potion."

"Merlin, Rose. Is it so inconceivable that I'd find you… alluring under no influence but my own mind?"

When he put it that way, it did seem a little silly that she'd assumed the worst.

She looked down, scuffing the toe of her shoe against the stone floor. "I guess not. I don't understand what's going on here, though."

With a deep breath, Scorpius squared his shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

"You're my best friend, Rose, and watching you tonight—laughing and teasing and being your unapologetic self—I realized that my stupid fear of ruining our friendship was a flimsy reason to not go after what I want."

A few steps forward and he was in her space, fingers under her chin tilting her head up to look at him.

"I want _you_, Rose. I have no idea if you feel the same, but I couldn't keep going without knowing. Life is so damn short and—"

"Scorp," Rose said, bring her fingers to his mouth and stilling the stream of words flying out. "You don't have to convince me. I've fancied you for a while. I just wasn't brave enough to tell you, scared to risk messing up the relationship we have." Trailing her hand down his jaw and behind his neck, she pulled his head closer, speaking against his lips.

"Kiss me."

He certainly didn't need to be told twice. His hands came up on either side of Rose's face, cradling her head with immense tenderness, a counterpoint to the almost frantic way he was kissing her, like he couldn't get close enough, couldn't get deep enough. Like he wanted to slip under her skin.

They lost track of time, and when they finally pulled apart, both of them sporting flushed cheeks and slightly swollen lips, Rose had completely forgotten about the dessert she had been so keen on just minutes before.

When Scorp spoke, his voice was rough with desire.

"Rose, I-"

"Can we just see where this goes?" she gently interrupted. "We don't need to talk about this, about us, right now. Let's just be for a bit, yeah? Just _feel_."

Brushing some hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear, Scorpius said, "Whatever you want, Rosie."

They stood there for a minute, staring at each other with silly, moony eyes, no doubt. But then Rose's belly rumbled, and they both laughed.

"I think that's our cue." Scorpius presented her with his elbow, and she tucked her hand around it, allowing him to lead her back into the Great Hall in pursuit of dessert.

Rose wasn't sure what the future held, but it looked just a tiny bit more exciting than it had yesterday.


End file.
